Asthma

Asthma is a disease that affects the bronchial tubes, which carry air from the trachea (main breathing pipe) to the lungs. When someone has an asthma attack, these airways become inflamed (swollen) and it becomes harder to breathe.

• What are the symptoms?
• What causes asthma?
• What causes someone to have an asthma attack?
• How can asthma attacks be prevented?
• How can asthma be treated?

What are the symptoms?

Someone having an asthma attack might have the following symptoms:

• Coughing
  
• Difficulty breathing
  
• Wheezing
  
• Feeling tight in their chest

Asthma is not that uncommon either -- 10 percent to 20 percent of kids have asthma.
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What causes asthma?

Asthma happens because the person's airways are sensitive, but what makes them sensitive is unknown. People are more likely to develop asthma if other people in their family also have it. You can't catch asthma from someone like the flu. Sometimes people who have asthma as kids grow out of it as adults.
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What causes someone to have an asthma attack?

Asthma attacks are caused by a reaction to certain triggers. There are many types of triggers, and they are different for different people. Below are a few common triggers.

• Something the person is allergic to, like dust, dust mites, pollen, mold or pet dander (dandruff on furry animals like cats and dogs), pet urine or pet saliva
  
• Cigarette smoke
  
• Feathers
  
• Grass (a freshly mowed lawn)
  
• Perfumes
  
• Chalk dust
  
• Hair spray
  
• Paint fumes
  
• Cleaning products

If someone has been sick, they're also more likely to have an asthma attack because the illness makes their airways more sensitive.

People may also have exercise-induced asthma, meaning that they have asthma attacks only during or after exercise.
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How can asthma attacks be prevented?

If you have asthma:

• Clean up the dust in your room and wash your sheets (in hot water) weekly
  
• Don't let pets sleep in your room
  
• If you have a carpet, vacuum often
  
• Wear a scarf over your face if you're going outside and there's lots of pollen or if it's very cold
  
• Wash your hands often to avoid colds or the flu

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How can asthma be treated?

Many people take medicines to treat asthma. There are two main types of medicine that a doctor can prescribe:

• Controllers -- taken either every day to prevent an attack (for people who have frequent asthma attacks)
  
• Rescuers -- Medicines that are taken only during an attack (for people whose asthma attacks don't occur very often)

Inhalers are often used to administer asthma medication as a mist. There are two kinds of inhalers:

• Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI) -- spray out a mist of the asthma medicine
  
• Dry Powder Inhalers (DPI) -- inhale dry powder; you have to breathe in very hard for the medicine to work

If you carry an asthma inhaler with you at school, you probably need to keep a note from your doctor explaining that you should keep the inhaler with you. You should also keep one in the school office in case you ever need an inhaler and do not have yours handy.

If you have asthma, it's important to have a written plan about what to do if you have an asthma attack. You can give this to teachers, parents, coaches and other important people. It might also include information on how to use an inhaler and a peak flow meter. A peak flow meter measures how well your lungs are working when you breathe into it. If the meter shows you can't blow as hard as usual, an asthma attack may be starting.

People with asthma can play sports, but it's important that coaches and teammates know that the person has asthma and that the person has talked with their doctor first.

Most people can keep asthma from being a problem by carefully controlling it. Knowing the facts can help you -- or a friend with asthma -- take the steps to keep asthma attacks from happening.
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